What You Can and Cannot Export/Import

What You Can Export/Import	What You Cannot Export/Import
Custom Elements	Custom Elements with Display Templates that include a deleted field or mask. To export this type of Custom Element, remove the deleted fields or masks from the Display Template, then retry the export. You cannot export Custom Elements or Metadata Forms with: A field bound to a Simple Form. CommonSpot generates a warning if you attempt to export this type of object. A Taxonomy Browser field. CommonSpot generates a warning if you try to export this type of object. A field bound to another Custom Element or Metadata Form that has not been exported. To export this type of object, export the container object first, then retry the export. A field based on a deleted Custom Field Type. You will need to delete the field based on the deleted Custom Field Type, then retry the export.
Metadata Forms
Render Handlers. If associated with a standard Element, a Render Handler can be exported by itself. If associated with a Custom Element, a Render Handler can be exported only as part of an associated Custom Element.	Standard CommonSpot Elements (such as Text Blocks). These Elements are already available to other sites.
Custom Field Types	Simple Forms. You can propagate Simple Form definitions by dynamically linking them to Element definitions.
Display Templates, but only as part of an associated Custom Element Taxonomies, which are handled differently from other export/import cases. You must export/import CommonSpot objects individually; no bulk export options are available. However, for objects containing other exportable objects you do not need to re-export the container to update the object contained.  For example, if you export a Custom Element containing a Custom Field Type and later make changes to the Custom Field Type, you need not re-export the Custom Element, you can simply export the Custom Field Type. The CommonSpot-assigned globally unique identifier (GUID) associates the Custom Field Type with the related Custom Element for updates. Also note that you can export Required Items or Optional Items, such as Render Handlers and Display Templates (for Custom Elements), or Field Masks (for Custom Field Type), as components of the export package only; you cannot export Optional Items or Required Items items individually. Export- Step 1 of 2 CommonSpot exports custom field types, metadata forms, and custom Elements as zip files. While including a readme file is optional, you should always add one that describes the object.  When you are exporting one of these objects, you are actually exporting a collection of CommonSpot files. In many cases, you must export all of the files. However, there are some cases where a part of the object is optional. For example, when exporting a custom Element, including a render handler is optional. Export dialogs contain the following fields: Name - Required. This field is pre-populated with a default name for the export packet (.zip file). While you can change this default name to whatever you like, it must not contain spaces. The text within the above figure contains additional information about the contents of this field. Items to Export - Each object has at least one and possibly more required items and may have optional items. Use the links at the top of the Items to Export section to show or hide objects. Optional items do not have to be included for the object to function properly, when imported.  Readme File Name - You can optionally include a readme file in the export archive. You must build the readme file separately. To include it, enter the full path to the readme file or click the Browse button to locate it. The readme filename cannot contain spaces and must have a .txt extension. After completing this dialog, click Export to continue to the second step of the Export process.